Bar/restaurant products have always been a popular segment in the promotional products market, and this year, wineries, microbreweries and distilleries are emerging as popular targets. Building a brand and differentiating from the competition have never been more important for these businesses, and hence, they require items that leave a lasting impression long after the establishment has been visited.
Apparel, tableware, drinkware, signage, bottle openers, coffee sleeves and coasters are just some of the items available in this lucrative market segment. According to Ron Rosencrans of ProRose, many patrons arrive at a bar or restaurant and are not sure what they want, or may want to try a different product."Promotional products do a great job in assisting in the choice they ultimately make," he states.
Jack Hosking, TK Cups-Sorg’s points out, "Bars and restaurants are always looking for unique ways to brand themselves and their products. Demand is the most overlooked aspect of this category by the promotional product distributor. All of their customers – whether it's a bar/restaurant or a corporate client – have events that will require the use of napkins and disposable foodservice items. The demand is always there and the fact that most of these goods are disposable builds in an annuity aspect to the business that is not present in all categories."
BIC Graphic's Margit Fawbush points out that the wine industry continues to flourish by making good quality wine more and more affordable. "The latest trend seems to be the growth of independent wineries, able to gain distribution through stores that source locally – offering them an introduction to the marketplace," she observes. "Promotional wine accessories are on a full spectrum – from low-cost bottle openers and stoppers to higher end items like glassware, holders and gift sets. Wine is so popular now that it is no longer a niche market and elegant wine accessories can be a great alternative to traditional corporate gifts."
Tom Donlin of ADG Promotional Products adds microbreweries and small batch distilleries to that list, two venues that also end up in restaurants. Microbreweries are promoting their seasonal brews to local restaurants by providing 16-ounce mixing glasses with the seasonal brew logos (typically very complex full color layouts) on one side of the glass co-branded with the restaurant’s logo on the other. These same breweries, he points out, are also ordering small menu covers to be placed around the bar with a write-up of each of the beers they provide the restaurant on one side of the cover, with space to add their appetizer list to the other side. Further, many distilleries are providing menu covers to bars and restaurants with a list of boutique cocktails that can be made with their products.
Daniel Webb of Webb Company also believes that wineries and microbreweries are one of the largest trends in the bar/restaurant market – in addition to food trucks. Dan Ball of Webb Company adds that top trends include bottle openers, coasters, and lip balm are key trends. "At your medium-priced restaurants, coaster advertising/promotion and bar/table top promotion are a popular way to advertise,"he emphasizes.
Etched wine bottles, wine bottle openers, and bags for both bars and restaurants are hot trends this year, according to John Short of Utica Cutlery/Kutmaster. "The economy has been good and people are spending more money on eating out and enjoying a great dinner," he observes.
As far as uniforms go, Eric Rubin of Blue Generation states that the bar and restaurant segment of the market has been growing so rapidly that the company has introduced a line of Servicewear with its own separate catalog for 2016. The category includes men's and ladies bistro vests, shirts and apron in up to 13 colors, as well as Teflon-treated polos and wovens, and pants and shorts.
Today's chefs are looking pretty snazzy, too, as many establishments showcase the food crew in action. "Chef Coats being incorporated into branding seems to drive the selection of the color matching, employee comfort concerns for kitchen employees toward moisture wicking, short or three-quarter sleeve options," says Pam Pennington of Aprons Etc.. "In aprons, we’ve seen greater demand for the more fashion colors such as lime green or silver gray."
Taraynn Lloyd of Edward’s Garment adds that restaurants are looking for garments that provide style, build their brand and is something that their staff enjoy wearing. "Retail drives a lot of the styling that you see at a restaurant," she says. "This can be with a new color, or a style that is more retailed-inspired."
What's New
Promotional product suppliers have pulled out all of the stops with a plethora of new bar and restaurant items. ADG Promotional Products has debuted a number of drinkware items with full color and personalization capabilities, including custom items that every establishment can tailor to their brand identity. Best sellers include the company’s HDI full color drinkware as well as Saratoga pens—especially stylus versions. "Bars/restaurants still utilize writing instruments as one of their key promotional marketing tools," Donlin emphasizes. "Servers provide them when completing transactions. They are inexpensive give-a-ways that enable the entity to provide key information like locations, hours of operation etc.”
New from ProRose is a 32-ounce pitcher, full size wine carafe, 8-ounce. cup, mini mason jar, a metal pint and shot glass, an acrylic soda/beer can design, bottle openers with full-color graphics, and several napkin holders and condiment caddies. "Tasters are always a strong category for us, as well as napkin holders and caddies," Rosencrans says.
A variety of items have also been added to TK Cups-Sorg’s offerings. "Lower-volume, full-color/full-bleed printing on coasters and coffee sleeves, lower price points on high volume clear plastic cups, colored frost flex product, and Govino wine and pilsner cups highlight our new products," Hosking notes.
BIC Graphic has also rolled out a number of new items – everything from low-cost bottle openers and stoppers to bottle coolers to glassware to gift sets. A few key items include an easy open wine cork (available with britepix to complement branding and label artwork), a wine bottle Koozie® Kooler, Pubware® Stemmed Wine that will not crack and is impact-resistant, and Stainless Vino2go® that keeps wine chilled longer than glass, Fawbush reports.
Bottle openers are popular at Bay State and Webb Company. Josette Bosse of Bay State points out that the K386 Little Tapper light-up bottle opener’s multi-use function makes it a product people will keep and use. It comes in translucent blue, translucent green and translucent red.
Webb Company’s vinyl-wrapped bottle opener joins its bottle cap remover and stainless can cooler as hot sellers for spring and summer events/promotions. Additionally, lip balm is a top seller at Webb Company. "We offer beer as a stock flavor," Webb notes. "However, we have done custom matches for several of the larger beer manufactures. We also offer a lip balm for wineries as well, as we have a wine flavored lip balm."
At Utica Cutlery/Kutmaster, Short notes that a steak knife set and kitchen cutlery center are new for 2016. For the last couple of years, the company’s steak knife sets as well as the Chef’s knife and Santoku knife have done pretty well.
Moving on to clothing/garment offerings, Edwards Garment has launched more styles using the company’s new fabric called Batiste. "The fabric has a tone-on-tone weave, is easy to home launder and the styling is very appealing to young millennials who are wearing the garments," Lloyd explains. She adds that ladies "love" the three-quarter-sleeve Batiste blouse (# 5292) and the men seems to enjoy wearing the companion styled shirt in the same fabric but in long sleeves. And, at Blue Generation, a line of IL-50 polos with and without a pocket engineered to perform well through 50 industrial launderings has been introduced.
Aprons Etc. has introduced lower imprint minimums and is offering full-color imprinting choices. Best sellers for the company’s aprons are those that allow flexibility of fit by providing an adjustable neck and the utility of pockets, Pennington says.
Sales Tips"When selling outfits, the color presentation is a phenomenal sales tool; the entire outfit can be color coordinated – from the vest, apron and shirts," Rubin notes. He adds that showcasing a technical attribute will increase the value. "Pour a liquid on the Teflon-treated garments – it will roll right off!" he asserts.
Brand awareness is an important selling point, according to Fawbush and Hosking of TD Cups-Sorg’s. "Branded items that bartenders, sommeliers and servers can use are important for generating brand awareness and recall," Fawbush affirms. According to Hosking, the foodservice suppliers have an advantage in this segment because they are in these establishments every day delivering ingredients, and cleaning supplies, etc. “They are looking for business that never changes," he explains. "If the restaurant is willing to print large quantities and have no plans to change the design, the foodservice distributor will get very aggressive to get that business. The promotional product distributor will win the business if they can get the establishment to understand that napkins, cups, and coasters are a lot more than the commodity piece that the foodservice industry presents them as. Use these products to promote events, products, and specials that will help drive business."
Fawbush adds that off-premise (wine shops and liquor stores) promos can be based on creating a rewards program for customers. "Buy 20 bottles, get a stopper; 40 bottles, get a wine opener; buy 60 bottles, get a wine cooler or carrying case, etc.," she elaborates. "This builds repeat business and loyalty. Wine accessories are also an excellent incentive program item with a high perceived value."
Short offers a similar concept. "If someone buys an expensive bottle of wine at a restaurant or liquor store, offer one of our wine bottle openers as a thank-you gift for buying that product. It is a great take home item that someone will keep."